Smart Meter rant- technology going Backwards!

[Soundguy]

yep.. I found out long ago that you had to get the animals into a routine for rounding them up.. and feed was the easiest way to go. that and putting the water tank inside a cattle panel arangement so you and a helper can corrall them while distracted. I have one such arangement near the side gate so i can backup my stock trailer and open the gate and chute and run them in.

A neighbor down in Navarro County ran 100-125 head of mixed breed beef cattle. They were pretty wild and no way would any of them get quite close enough to be touched. The only time they were touched by human hands was in a squeeze chute for branding and/or vaccinating. And to try to drive them anywhere was usually futile, but he could set a 5 gallon bucket on the open tailgate of his pickup or in the bed of he Kawasaki Mule and drive slowly along and they'd follow anywhere.:laughing:

But when I'd go in the pasture to pick up pecans with a 5 gallon bucket, they'd all gather round just out of reach.:laughing:

 

[3930dave]

i have plenty of gas tractors. I left one in the feedlot one day came back to find a caow had run her horns all over and pulled the dizzy cap and wires..

Maybe there were tractor thieves lurking, and she was just securing it ?

Even w/o horns, heavy animals can create a lot of equipment problems. One of the few times I saw my uncle pissed off was when I found the counter knocked off a baler - turns out the draft horses took a liking to rubbing against the baler.

Fun times ! Good memories, actually.

Rgds, D.

 

[retiredmgn]

It's easy and fun to save money under these Time of Use programs ! Just put your kids to bed hungry right after they get home from school, then wake 'em up at 11pm when you can (maybe) afford to cook them dinner, do some laundry, and run computers and TVs.

If you want to really get ticked off, read up on the companies and export markets (depending where you are) that pay: Little, or Nothing, or actually GET PAID to consume electricity !

Us peasants are definitely getting ****** on this one. Corporations - laughing, as usual.

Rgds, D.

Boy, you sir are a cynic. My kind of guy.
There are not only excess charges for peak time usage, you pay extra for 'on shoulder', 'off shoulder'.
These are 'pre peak', 'post peak' times - computed on the TOU (time of usage) curve.
In Maine the Public Utilities Commission decided transmission and power companies should be seperated.
Good God. If you tried to explain, to a normal person, what was going on with their electric bill they would walk away confused and shaking their head.

 

[3930dave]

Boy, you sir are a cynic. My kind of guy.
There are not only excess charges for peak time usage, you pay extra for 'on shoulder', 'off shoulder'.
These are 'pre peak', 'post peak' times - computed on the TOU (time of usage) curve.
In Maine the Public Utilities Commission decided transmission and power companies should be seperated.
Good God. If you tried to explain, to a normal person, what was going on with their electric bill they would walk away confused and shaking their head.

Obfuscation - well played.

I think it is worse than that. (Me - cynical ? ) I think there are few utility employees who would get very far trying to rationally and coherently explain what is really going on with these bills.

In the People's Republic of Ontario, we see "Debt Retirement Charge" on our bills. AFAIK, this is just going to someone's personal Cayman Island retirement account.

I'm actually serious when I say that if I saw a line item on the bill that said "Some BS name for ripping you off even more", I'd gladly make a double payment that month.

I was headed that direction anyway, but if I ever needed motivation to go off-grid.......

Rgds, D.

 

[retiredmgn]

Obfuscation - well played.

I'm actually serious when I say that if I saw a line item on the bill that said "Some BS name for ripping you off even more", I'd gladly make a double payment that month.

D.

Well, in behalf of all the retired electric utility people, we appreciate your support.

:laughing:

 

[3930dave]

Well, in behalf of all the retired electric utility people, we appreciate your support.

:laughing:

:laughing:

My generation has been mostly conditioned to expect little or nothing in terms of retirement plans/stability. (Not a whine, just a datapoint).

For the most part, I don't have a problem with retired workers getting a stable pension.

What I do have a problem with is that all the new utility surcharges that have been dreamed up in the People's Republic of Ontario, IMO, are just being dumped into general revenue.

Just another tax, on a service you can not do without. AKA, part of the Big Squeeze.

Rgds, D.

 

[Mousefield]

:laughing:

My generation has been mostly conditioned to expect little or nothing in terms of retirement plans/stability. (Not a whine, just a datapoint).

For the most part, I don't have a problem with retired workers getting a stable pension.

What I do have a problem with is that all the new utility surcharges that have been dreamed up in the People's Republic of Ontario, IMO, are just being dumped into general revenue.

Just another tax, on a service you can not do without. AKA, part of the Big Squeeze.

Rgds, D.

Well, in the People's Republic of British Columbia we just had our free medical service monthly fee go up about 4%. So for the wife and me it is about $120.00 per month. Think it has gone up 22% in 4 years, doesn't seem to have helped the wait lines for services though. And to keep on topic I have applied for a farm rate for our hydro, should save us a bit of $$.
Hydro is going up 3.7% as well. :ashamed::ashamed::confused2::confused2: :2cents::2cents:

 

[General Lee]

Just the beginning.........I read an article these smart readers will be able to tell the electric company which appliances are running and when they run. Will decide if your using to much electricity and soon enough they will be in control of when you can wash and dry your clothes. Just like the thermostats that can be controlled by the electric company.

 

[3930dave]

Just the beginning.........I read an article these smart readers will be able to tell the electric company which appliances are running and when they run. Will decide if your using to much electricity and soon enough they will be in control of when you can wash and dry your clothes. Just like the thermostats that can be controlled by the electric company.

One guy I talked to tried this type of program with his heat pump. Real mess - was never on when he really needed it, AND his bill went up. I talked with this guy long enough to see that he understood exactly what everything in his house consumed for power.

Load shedding (grid wise) is only really is effective with a large plant, or smelter. The Ontario economy has already closed most of those down - Go Team Turn Off the Lights !

If it is forced down to my level, I'll do my own version (Lister clone, in the backyard).

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

Just the beginning.........I read an article these smart readers will be able to tell the electric company which appliances are running and when they run. Will decide if your using to much electricity and soon enough they will be in control of when you can wash and dry your clothes. Just like the thermostats that can be controlled by the electric company.

My brother has A/C and maybe uses it one week a year... it was in the home when he bought it.

When the smart meter was going in the installer told him the Utility would pay him $25 if my brother would also have a utility controlled A/C switch installed at the same time.

My brother did and got his $25 credit.

Over the summer, there were a couple days of record heat... he calls me and says the A/C doesn't work and assumed it was the switch... after speaking with the Utility he learns it should be working some of the time..

I go and take a look and find the wire to his thermostat was disconnected... there was no way it was ever going to work...